Count Nightfell
Count Nightfell, also known as Count Night (ナイト伯爵, Naito Hakushaku) in Japan, who also calls himself Phantom Thief Night (怪盗ナイト, Kaitō Naito), is a character appearing in the manga series Beyblade Burst and the anime series Beyblade Burst Turbo. After obtaining the Left Astro and Right Artemis Layers in the Turbo anime, Count Nightfell fights with two variations of the combined Beyblade: Fusion Aether 11Turn Zephyr'. In the manga, the Beyblades he uses are Baldur Bumper Bite and Shadow Orichalcum Aero Bite. He is a Phantom Thief Blader with an intense obsession for rare Beys. He has only appeared in special chapters of the manga that featured rare prize and collectible Beys. As a Phantom Thief, he follows a code of conduct and will only steal a Bey if he can defeat it in battle. It is a test of his own merit as well as his way of augmenting his collection. Appearance Count Nightfell is a tall young man with gray shoulder-length hair, and lilac eyes (though probably from colored contact lenses as part of his disguise). He wears a phantom mask, which covers the right side of his face, a black-brimmed hat with a moody-blue sash and a moody-blue feather, a flowing black cape with moody-blue trim, a light-gray cravat, a black vest with moody-blue trim, moody-blue gloves, white trousers, and black calf length boots with moody-blue cuffs. He carries a gold walking cane with a red gem on the handle. The cane is also a grappling hook. Personality Count Nightfell is confident, daring, and fearless in his work as a phantom thief. His tone of speaking is very polite and he carries himself like a gentleman, but he is capable of being insensitive and cruel. He shows little emotion except in the heat of battle, when seeing a rare bey's performance stirs up his excitement and his lust to have it. He is very proud of his image. He takes offense when Hyde calls him kosodoro ''(a word meaning "petty thief" or "cheap crook") and politely reaffirms that he is a ''kaito (a phantom thief). He is slightly annoyed when Valt calls him "Feather Hat" and will gently remind him that he wishes to be called "Count Nightfell." He also is very good at keeping secrets, as evident by the fact that has kept his bey-stealing double life completely hidden from Zac the Sunrise. Count Nightfell is also a master of disguise, being able to perfectly mimic the appearances and voices of other people, as seen with Evel Oxford and Ranjiro Kiyama. Biography Beyblade Burst (manga) Count Night first appeared in two special chapters at the end of Volume 4 and the beginning of Volume 5, when the WBBA received an advanced notice announcing his intention to steal the Gold God bey. Zac the Sunrise, Xander Shakadera, Valt Aoi and the Beigoma Academy Beyclub were summoned by Muraki to help protect the bey. After easily defeating an entire room full of guards and dodging all of Xander's moves to subdue him with martial arts, he states that he has not come for a physical fight but for a bey battle. Muraki entrusts Valt with the Gold God bey and Count Night uses Baldur. Valt wins and the Gold God bey is saved, but Count Night declares that he is not giving up his goal of going after the world's rare Beys. He next appeared in Volume 8 during a tournament held at the Sagrada Familia in Spain. His aim was to steal the grand prize, a Shadow Orichalcum. The winner of the tournament, the top blader from a bey club in Madrid, challenged him and lost. As Count Night was walking off with his Minoboros, Valt challenged him with the hopes of saving the defeated boy's Bey. Valt agreed to wager his own Valtryek. In Volume 9 he took Valtryek and offered Valt the chance to get it back by fighting him in New York. Muraki loaned Duo Artemis to Valt for the battle. When Count Night easily defeated Duo Artemis and Muraki explained that it was hopeless without Duo Apollo, he produced the bey from his cloak and offered it to Valt so that he could experience a fight with the Double God Bey. In a short color four-panel published at the end of Volume 9, it is revealed that Count Night is Zac's older brother. Zac visits his brother and notices Shadow Orichalcum among his impressive collection of Beys. The brother declines to tell Zac how he obtained it, and a window into his thoughts shows him dressed as Count Night. In Volume 11, he becomes possessed by the dark energy of Shadow Amaterios 0 Xtreme upon touching the bey. His appearance is altered into a twisted, demented version of his usually composed self. Muraki approaches Aiger Akabane, currently the Asian champion, and begs for his help in recovering Shadow Amaterios. He successfully bribes Aiger into fighting Count Night with a year's supply of potato chips. Aiger fails to defeat Count Night, and nearly loses Z Achilles in doing so. Count Night allows him to keep the Achilles in order to see how he may grow as a blader. He then leaves, still in possession of Shadow Amaterios, and still consumed by its dark power, urging Aiger to become stronger. Background Beyblade Burst Turbo Beyblades * Right Eclipse 11Turn Zephyr': Count Night's primary Balance type Beyblade in Beyblade Burst Turbo. * Left Eclipse 11Turn Zephyr': Count Night's primary Balance type Beyblade in Beyblade Burst Turbo. Special Moves * Dead Impulse: * Dead Gravity: While circling around the opponent, Left Eclipse slowly closes in while knocking them around. A yellow stream covers Eclipse as it closes in on its opponent, knocking them upwards in a pillar of yellow light. Battles Relationships Zac When not wearing a mask and stealing Beys, Count Night is Zac's older brother. He is the only person in the series who has called Zac by his actual name, "Zenkuro." Zac appears to be unaware of his brother's double life. "Zac the Sunrise" and "Count Night" represent night and day, the sun and the moon. They appear to be on very friendly terms and visit each other occasionally for bey battles. Valt Count Night respects Valt as a fellow Blader and sees the potential in him. When he defeated Valt and rightfully won Valtryek, he decided to let Valt keep the bey for a time because he recognized that it was in the process of evolving. Eventually he returned to reclaim Valtryek, but invited Valt to come to New York and fight him to win it back. He genuinely enjoys his battles with Valt because of Valt's ability to bring out the true strength of whichever special bey he happens to be using. Hearts Kyle Hakim Evel Oxford Gallery Trivia * In the anime, he greets people and says goodbye in French. This is likely a reference to The Phantom of the Opera, written in 1910 by Gaston Leroux, about a masked man who famously haunted the Paris Garnier. Count Night’s phantom thief clothing is very similar to the Phantom’s costume in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 1986 musical adaptation of the novel. * The idea to include a phantom thief in the Beyblade cannon may have been a nod to Hideyasu Takahashi's Kaitou Joker, another manga serialized in Corocoro Monthly Magazine. Like Joker, Count Night sends advance notices announcing his intent to steal. Joker is a self-proclaimed "miracle maker," and Count Night describes his cherished Baldur a "miracle Bey". ** The Kaitou or "Phantom Thief" genre can be traced back to pulp fiction of the late 19th century. Early examples include characters like A.J. Raffles, created by E.W. Hornung in 1898, and Arsene Lupin created by Maurice Leblanc in 1905. ** After having originally been a manga exclusive character, Count Night made his official debut in the 32nd episode of the Beyblade Burst Turbo anime series. ** Count Night uses the golden version of the LR String launcher, presumably to change the spin directions of the Cho-Z Eclipse. ** He is the second Burst character after Shu to own a dual-rotation Beyblade, since Cho-Z Eclipse can switch between Left Eclipse & Right Eclipse. ** His birthday is July 15.